U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry introduces financier and philanthropist George Soros, who spoke with Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Doug Frantz about strengthening civil society, democracy, and the world economy at the U.S. Department of State’s Open Forum in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2014. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]
Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee in the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election, has always been a controversial figure in the Peach State. In addition to burning the state flag on the steps of the Georgia Capitol in 1992, she was embroiled for three years in a vote fraud scandal involving a “registration initiative” called the New Georgia Project (NGP), an organization partially funded by a $500,000 contribution from George Soros. While that scandal played out, Abrams drew a salary of $177,000 for her part-time work as NGP’s CEO, yet failed to pay $54,000 in federal taxes and $96,000 in government-backed student loans.
It’s little wonder that Abrams is running behind her GOP opponent, Secretary of State Brian Kemp. But why is the gap only 1.5 points in a red state like Georgia? The answer is that most of her campaign contributions come from out-of-state donors. The Soros connection, for example, doesn’t stop with NGP. The Atlanta Journal Constitution, by no means a conservative publication, reports: “George Soros has given $1.25 million to Abrams’ political action committee, GeorgiaNEXT, since 2014. He also donated $1 million to the Georgia Democratic Party this year to support her campaign for governor.”
And the Soros cash is by no means all of the out-of-state money Abrams has received. She has received millions in donations from “independent groups” and Democratic political action committees that have been spending lavishly on behalf of the Abrams campaign. Moreover, most of the candidate’s individual contributions have come from out of town as well. The AJC also reports that she has received $1.2 million in contributions from residents of New York City, $581,000 from the denizens of DC, $429,000 from Nancy Pelosi’s hometown of San Francisco, $300,000 from residents of Los Angeles, ad infinitum.
Is all this lefty largesse enough to propel Abrams into the Georgia governor’s mansion? Not if she can’t do better in a more competitive environment than she was faced with during last night’s Georgia Public Broadcasting debate, which was moderated by Abrams-friendly public “journalists” who repeatedly tossed her softball questions, interrupted her Republican opponent, and gave an absurd amount of time for the goofy effusions of Libertarian Ted Metz.
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